Alignment - Blink Motorsport, what a difference!
Discussion
dragonheart said:
Must get my MK3 done, never really been happy with the way it handles. New tyres have improved it but it stills feels wayward. MX5 heaven is fairly close to me so i think i will take it to them.
I never bothered getting it done on my mk2 and really had to push myself to get it done on my mk3 but im glad i did. It was hard paying 84quid for something i cant see but what you can feel more than makes up for it.CaptiV8ted said:
Same here, car was ace after alignment. It keeps 'forgetting' it though. Not long after it's been done, it starts pulling to the left (not tram-lining or following camber).
What model/year car do you have?If it's an early 1.6 it's worth purchasing new alignnemt bolts and replacing them all. They were uprated in spec, (to a finer pitch thread IIRC), when the 1.8 was released as they were prone to slipping.
nikpro said:
Obviously not carried out at BLiNK Motorsport since you're in Devon?
No. I went to a tyre place that had the decent Hunter alignment gear. They did it to Wheel In Motion's fast road specs that I obtained. The first place I went to lectured me at length about how I should stick to factory settings and spoke to me like an idiot. Richyvrlimited said:
What model/year car do you have?
If it's an early 1.6 it's worth purchasing new alignnemt bolts and replacing them all. They were uprated in spec, (to a finer pitch thread IIRC), when the 1.8 was released as they were prone to slipping.
My car is a '91 1.6. Very interesting point about the bolts. I had it set up again early August, prior to a Donington track day. A few miles after Donny, it's pulling left again. What we found when I had my second alignment done, was there was a lot of -ve camber on the rear near side wheel. Perhaps that's where I should start looking!If it's an early 1.6 it's worth purchasing new alignnemt bolts and replacing them all. They were uprated in spec, (to a finer pitch thread IIRC), when the 1.8 was released as they were prone to slipping.
Thanks for the tip
Had my mx-5 mk3 done at Blink motorsport. Extremely happy with the service at Blink. I went on personal recommendation and will definitely visiting again. courteous, efficient and very knowledgeable at a very reasonable price.
I have H&R springs on it already and added ILM/mx5parts ARB.
alignment and fitting of the above parts make the car a joy!
I have H&R springs on it already and added ILM/mx5parts ARB.
alignment and fitting of the above parts make the car a joy!
CaptiV8ted said:
nikpro said:
Obviously not carried out at BLiNK Motorsport since you're in Devon?
No. I went to a tyre place that had the decent Hunter alignment gear. They did it to Wheel In Motion's fast road specs that I obtained. The first place I went to lectured me at length about how I should stick to factory settings and spoke to me like an idiot. [/quoteCan i ask where you took your car? I am about to fit some h&r lowering springs and would like to take it to someone with good knowledge and decent gear to get the alignment sorted.
ETB in Plymouth has the hunter rig (NOT the place I mentioned in a previous post).
If your alignment is significantly out, the improvement will be massive. If you opt to move away from factory settings and go for something a bit sharper (like I did), just give them the settings and they'll set it up for you.
Before I bought my coil overs, mine was fitted with lowered springs on standard shocks and was pretty awful as a result. The damping was too weak for the springs, and it would bottom out over speed bumps Just something to consider before you fit the lowering springs!
If your alignment is significantly out, the improvement will be massive. If you opt to move away from factory settings and go for something a bit sharper (like I did), just give them the settings and they'll set it up for you.
Before I bought my coil overs, mine was fitted with lowered springs on standard shocks and was pretty awful as a result. The damping was too weak for the springs, and it would bottom out over speed bumps Just something to consider before you fit the lowering springs!
Just to add to the recommendation for BLiNK Motorsport in Cheshire for alignment...this is my experience, I have posted this on MX5Nutz as well
My car has had a few suspension modifications, with the parts being on the car for over a year, these being a set of Meister R coilovers and Cobalt anti-roll bars. Having had everything on the car for over a year I decided it was best to get the wheel alignment done, given the state of the roads around where I live its something I'd get done once a year as routine. I also had some concerns over the ride height and corner weighting as the car seemed to sit a bit low, it had been set up previously but I wasn't too confident it was correct after doing some measuring of ride heights and started to understand a bit more about how corner weights work.
Anyway, I took it to my usual alignment place, they have a good rep and are often recommended on forums, indeed I have used them several times myself but the result this time was not good - they did make some adjustments to the alignment, but the car developed a cracking/popping noise from the front left that wasn't there before and generally felt a bit strange at times when going through corners. I took the car back to this place two days later for them to check over and they assured me everything was tight, and it must be something else, a top mount or similar...
Not being too happy with this I decided to take it somewhere a bit more specialist I spoke to Richard/Fraser from BLiNK via the forum here and arranged for the car to be checked out, I was eager to get this done before the coilovers are 12 months old (25th Dec) in case of any warranty issues.
Upon arrival Richard took the car for a test drive to try and pinpoint the issue, a few things to check were identified, they checked the ARB droplinks and bushes, the coilover units themselves, and also the adjustment bolts. It was also noted that the rear anti-roll bar polybushes had been assembled without any lubricant, this meant it was bone dry and very stiff to move meaning the bar did not rotate as freely as it should, this was something that would be remedied as well.
The dodgy cracking noise was tracked down to an issue with the front camber bolts, they were corroded and seized into the crush tube, this meant you couldn't tighten them up properly without twisting the bushes, risking damage, and it was thus left slightly loose on the front left. On a ramp it would seem fairly tight and you could move it enough to get the alignment to measure right, but once subject to road loads it was all over the place - the noise was the bolt occasionally moving and the lower wishbone with it....so the camber would change as the car moved, not what you want as the outcome after an alignment!
I'll leave it to Richard or Fraser to post some pics of the very knackered bolts that came off, for any Mk3 owner I would consider getting these checked out when you have an alignment done, its clear that some places will swing some spanners on the bolts and 'adjust' things without checking the bolts are able to rotate within the tubes...if they don't, then you can have a problem....on my car it had been left in a state where the camber could vary as the loads moved the bolt, which totally defeats the point of an alignment frankly!
This is where things got tricky, getting all of the alignment bolts freed up was a bit of a job, lots of penetrating fluid, air hammer, induction tool to get some heat into the bolts, lump hammer, swearing and general violence before everything was freed up to get an acceptable range of movement. Never has a Mk3 posed such a problem apparently, as relatively new cars adjustment is not usually a problem but once things are seized it is very very difficult to get things set up properly. Some of the alignment bolts had to be replaced, others had the threads cleaned up and retapped to ensure everything could go back together properly and with an acceptable amount of adjustment.
Once this was done they set up the car using the corner weighting equipment and the Hunter Hawkeye alignment rig, custom settings were used. Fraser and Richard took the time to explain the process, how the equipment works to get everything spot on. I had the corner weighting set up to a proper 50/50 left/right split with my weight as driver taken into account, and the ride heights set to give the 1cm rake that works well on MX5s (happily this meant running a bit higher at the back so hopefully less scraping on the way into my works car park).
Results, well with the drive home it was apparent turn in was much better, and the car also felt much more stable at speed and more consistent in behaviour during direction changes, and best of all no more dodgy noises. Very happy with the car now, it drives better than it has done since I got the parts fitted nearly a year ago, I have great confidence in the setup seeing how thorough everything was. A big recommendation for Fraser and Richard from me, would feel confident in recommending BLiNK for suspension fault finding and a proper setup.
What was clear to me was the difference between a place that offers a quick wheel alignment, and a place with proper knowledge who will take the time to make sure everything is just right. Where a car has problems like partially seized bolts that can lead to twisted/damaged bushes if you try to tighten them, or movement in components if left slightly looser, not everywhere will have the understanding or inclination to get things properly sorted, instead swinging a few spanners until the numbers look right on the ramp, and then leaving it at that...but the outcome isn't always as good.
My car has had a few suspension modifications, with the parts being on the car for over a year, these being a set of Meister R coilovers and Cobalt anti-roll bars. Having had everything on the car for over a year I decided it was best to get the wheel alignment done, given the state of the roads around where I live its something I'd get done once a year as routine. I also had some concerns over the ride height and corner weighting as the car seemed to sit a bit low, it had been set up previously but I wasn't too confident it was correct after doing some measuring of ride heights and started to understand a bit more about how corner weights work.
Anyway, I took it to my usual alignment place, they have a good rep and are often recommended on forums, indeed I have used them several times myself but the result this time was not good - they did make some adjustments to the alignment, but the car developed a cracking/popping noise from the front left that wasn't there before and generally felt a bit strange at times when going through corners. I took the car back to this place two days later for them to check over and they assured me everything was tight, and it must be something else, a top mount or similar...
Not being too happy with this I decided to take it somewhere a bit more specialist I spoke to Richard/Fraser from BLiNK via the forum here and arranged for the car to be checked out, I was eager to get this done before the coilovers are 12 months old (25th Dec) in case of any warranty issues.
Upon arrival Richard took the car for a test drive to try and pinpoint the issue, a few things to check were identified, they checked the ARB droplinks and bushes, the coilover units themselves, and also the adjustment bolts. It was also noted that the rear anti-roll bar polybushes had been assembled without any lubricant, this meant it was bone dry and very stiff to move meaning the bar did not rotate as freely as it should, this was something that would be remedied as well.
The dodgy cracking noise was tracked down to an issue with the front camber bolts, they were corroded and seized into the crush tube, this meant you couldn't tighten them up properly without twisting the bushes, risking damage, and it was thus left slightly loose on the front left. On a ramp it would seem fairly tight and you could move it enough to get the alignment to measure right, but once subject to road loads it was all over the place - the noise was the bolt occasionally moving and the lower wishbone with it....so the camber would change as the car moved, not what you want as the outcome after an alignment!
I'll leave it to Richard or Fraser to post some pics of the very knackered bolts that came off, for any Mk3 owner I would consider getting these checked out when you have an alignment done, its clear that some places will swing some spanners on the bolts and 'adjust' things without checking the bolts are able to rotate within the tubes...if they don't, then you can have a problem....on my car it had been left in a state where the camber could vary as the loads moved the bolt, which totally defeats the point of an alignment frankly!
This is where things got tricky, getting all of the alignment bolts freed up was a bit of a job, lots of penetrating fluid, air hammer, induction tool to get some heat into the bolts, lump hammer, swearing and general violence before everything was freed up to get an acceptable range of movement. Never has a Mk3 posed such a problem apparently, as relatively new cars adjustment is not usually a problem but once things are seized it is very very difficult to get things set up properly. Some of the alignment bolts had to be replaced, others had the threads cleaned up and retapped to ensure everything could go back together properly and with an acceptable amount of adjustment.
Once this was done they set up the car using the corner weighting equipment and the Hunter Hawkeye alignment rig, custom settings were used. Fraser and Richard took the time to explain the process, how the equipment works to get everything spot on. I had the corner weighting set up to a proper 50/50 left/right split with my weight as driver taken into account, and the ride heights set to give the 1cm rake that works well on MX5s (happily this meant running a bit higher at the back so hopefully less scraping on the way into my works car park).
Results, well with the drive home it was apparent turn in was much better, and the car also felt much more stable at speed and more consistent in behaviour during direction changes, and best of all no more dodgy noises. Very happy with the car now, it drives better than it has done since I got the parts fitted nearly a year ago, I have great confidence in the setup seeing how thorough everything was. A big recommendation for Fraser and Richard from me, would feel confident in recommending BLiNK for suspension fault finding and a proper setup.
What was clear to me was the difference between a place that offers a quick wheel alignment, and a place with proper knowledge who will take the time to make sure everything is just right. Where a car has problems like partially seized bolts that can lead to twisted/damaged bushes if you try to tighten them, or movement in components if left slightly looser, not everywhere will have the understanding or inclination to get things properly sorted, instead swinging a few spanners until the numbers look right on the ramp, and then leaving it at that...but the outcome isn't always as good.
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